Ebay Is Baaaad

[Rorie]

So, my boredom one night on eBay has now put some more pennies on my credit card, and a 320L aquarium in my home

I have been running my 90L aquarium well for about 8 months now, but i quickly came to capacity. I would really prefer some bigger fish than the tetras and danios etc that i have. So can anybody help me with some fish suggestions for a larger tank? It will take a couple months for me to get it all sorted, but my excitement wants me to arrange the fish stock already

I currently have a Rainbow Shark and an Algae eater which are fine just now, but will not cope in my 90L when grown, so i gather they will have to go in. If the tank is much bigger, I assume i still need to decide on community tank or semi-aggressive? I would like a busy tank with lots of fish, rather than a tank with 4 big fish.

Suggestions for a nice set up?

Also, with such a big tank, do i still need to go for adding 2 fish a week approach? It will take a long time to fill! And what about the growth rate of the fish? My shark is 6 months old and does not appear to have grown! It would be sad to have such a huge tank sitting waiting for fish like the shark to grow and fill it up!

 

[Carlovel1]

Congratulations on your new tank
With such a large tank I think a South American theme would be good,
You could do:
4 Discus
3 Altum Angelfish
10 Cardinal Tetras
5 Julli Cory
1 Rainbow shark
and some Hatchetfish
But im rubbish at stocking levels.
I think you could add 4 fish per week

 

[coldcazzie]

So, my boredom one night on eBay has now put some more pennies on my credit card, and a 320L aquarium in my home

Bahahahahaha Nice one!

I think a SA theme would look rather good. I take it from your comments you plan to fish-in cycle the tank? Will you put the shark and algae eater in straight away with some media from your smaller filter and go from there? As long as you're careful I think it could work. I would aim to increase the bioload by about a third every couple of weeks, but keep an eye on your levels and if anything spikes then do the appropriate water changes. And if you did go for the SA theme be careful about the order you add the fish - some like candinals do not like brand new tanks, so you'd have to add those last.

 

[Rorie]

Cool thanks

What is my other option other than 'fish in cycle'? The ammonia cycle? I actually just posted in thisthread asking about how it works after an ammonia cycle? Does an ammonia cycle mean that once it is ready to go, you can add more than two fish a week?

The tank comes with a load of ADA gravel and extras, but i am not totally sure what this is! Just gravel thats better for plants? I was thinking of making it a sand base like my current tank, but apparently this stuff (the ADA stuff) is super expensive, so it would seem like a bit of a waste!?

So what about other fish that i have seen in shops and thought "Oh, one day when i buy a big tank" such as the Black Ghost Knife Fish, or an elephant nose, or some other funky looking fish like them?

 

[kizno1]

You can use play sand its alot cheaper but you do need to give it a rinse first. Black ghost knife fish can get to 18-22" long and im not sure about putting one in my 150G so i wouldnt risk it in a 80G. Elphant noses need to be kept in species only tanks and from what ive heard there quite hard to keep but i dont really know much about them.
I would go for a new world cichlid set up. You can go for south american cichlids that are generally fairly peaceful or go for central american cichlids that are alot more aggressive.

for a SA something like
1 rotkeil severum or oscar
1 common or gibby plec
6 silver dolars

or a CA tank
pair of convicts, Honduran red points or T Bar cichclid.
1 big plec
6 silver dolars

or a more peaceful SA
1 pair of angel fish (you would have to get 4 and wait for 2 to pair up then sell the other 2)
8 rainbow fish
1 plec
8 corys
1 pair of rainbow cichlids
1 pair of keyhole cihlids

 

[coldcazzie]

Cool thanks

What is my other option other than 'fish in cycle'? The ammonia cycle? I actually just posted in thisthread asking about how it works after an ammonia cycle? Does an ammonia cycle mean that once it is ready to go, you can add more than two fish a week?

Yes, basically. Once you've completed the fishless cycle (where you add ammonia) then you can almost fully stock your tank straight away. Maybe 80-90% stocking, and keep an eye on it, then add the rest once you're sure the filter is handling the bioload well.

The tank comes with a load of ADA gravel and extras, but i am not totally sure what this is! Just gravel thats better for plants? I was thinking of making it a sand base like my current tank, but apparently this stuff (the ADA stuff) is super expensive, so it would seem like a bit of a waste!?

If you don't want it you could always sell it on. Sand is fine as long as you wash it first as Kizno said.

So what about other fish that i have seen in shops and thought "Oh, one day when i buy a big tank" such as the Black Ghost Knife Fish, or an elephant nose, or some other funky looking fish like them?

As with any fish - research it as much as you can. Bear in mind the filter and how good it is, the actual tank dimensions and the amount of water, and find out what fish you can reasonably keep in your tank. And don't think "oh it'll be fine" if you dont get the answers you want and it turns out you cant keep something you've longed to. It's much better to have different fish than to try to keep something unsuitable and have it die later for whatever reason.

 

[Rorie]

Yeh sure I looked them both up- I knew they got big, but that's huge! My local shop always seems to have stock so I wonder who the he'll buys them! Hehe.

Some of the fish mentioned above look great think I'll be looking into them a bit more and get a stocking list. I guess if I do the ammonia method I can add a load of stock straight away then it will be cost effective to get them online from one of the online delivery stock ppl. Has anybody dealt with them? Fish that come ok health wise?

Thanks